


Assorted Adventures Of Etheria High

by NoirAngel011



Series: Etheria High [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29032137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011
Summary: A collection of stories that explore different character’s relationships with each other in more detail and show events that didn’t fit into the main story or weren’t all that relevant to the plot. All take place during and after the events of Teenage Wasteland. You will have to read that story before this one to understand what’s going on.Updates every Thursday
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Mara (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Mermista & Catra & Double Trouble (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Series: Etheria High [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031805
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Best Friend Squad Sleepover!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That sleepover between chapters 1 and 2 of Teenage Wasteland.

“This is gonna be the best sleepover ever, just you wait and see, Adora!” 

Glimmer dragged Adora up the stairs to her bedroom, Bow in tow.

“I’ve been to a sleepover before, Glim-” Adora said, rolling her eyes. She was cut off as Glimmer pushed open her bedroom door. Adora’s jaw dropped. The room was magnificent, with high ceilings and a plush carpet, and a canopy on the four-poster bed, it looked like a room fit for a princess. “Woah,” she mumbled.

“It’s fancy, I know,” Bow smiled, standing next to Adora. 

“Fancy is an understatement.” Glimmer was already inside, digging through her closet for something it seemed. 

Ador and Bow made their way into the bedroom. Adora dropped her backpack to the floor beside where Glimmer had thrown hers. On the way back from school, they had stopped by Adora’s house to grab some clothes for tonight and tomorrow. Bow already had clothes littered around Glimmer’s room.

“Here it is!” Glimmer said, pulling out a box from her closet.

“What is that?” Adora asked.

Glimmer shook the box then threw it open.

“Makeover equipment~” she singsonged, smiling. Adora jumped up onto her bed and crawled over to see inside the box.

“Woah,” she said, pulling out a bottle of very sparkly nail polish. She gave it a small shake.

Bow, Adora, and Glimmer sat on Glimmer’s bedroom floor. They had turned on a movie while they snacked on candy and pizza they had ordered. It was some rom-com that Adora wasn’t paying attention to. Glimmer was brushing her hair while Bow expertly painted her nails in the same glitter polish she had pulled out earlier. 

“Your hair is so soft,” Glimmer commented as she combed through it. Bow shushed her as she was talking over the movie, causing the pink-haired girl to laugh quietly.

Adora couldn’t remember the last time she had consumed so much pizza. Catra was usually a Chinese takeout kind of girl when they had sleepovers and Adam always hogged most of the box they shared whenever the family ordered pizza.

Bow and Glimmer had used Adora as their personal mannequin, doing her nails, hair, and makeup.

“Woah,” Adora said as she looked in the mirror Glimmer was holding in front of her face. The movie had finished playing and Adora’s face was covered in a thick, shimmery blush, equally glittery eyeshadow, heavy mascara, and a dark pink lip gloss that her hair got stuck in. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders, a stark difference from her usual ponytail and her hairpoof was no more.

“I think you look great!” Glimmer said. Adora looked down at her nails.

“I like my nails,” she said awkwardly. Glimmer gave her a look that Adora couldn’t exactly decipher.

“It’s quite shiny,” Bow said from where he was leaning against a pillow on the ground.

“That it is,” Adora agreed. “I’m going to go wash it off before it clogs my pores.” Adora stood up, adjusting the cuffs of her long-sleeved pajamas.

“Bathroom’s right there!” Glimmer pointed to the bathroom door and Adora quickly disappeared inside. She found some makeup remover in the cabinet and went to town, scrubbing her face of Glimmer’s… masterpiece.

It felt good to get it all off. Adora had never been one for makeup. Not even Catra could get her to wear it. It just felt gross on her skin.

When she emerged from the bathroom she was met with a full force pillow fight already taking place. She gasped and dodged a white pillow being thrown at her head. Adora ducked below another pillow being thrown at her, this time by Bow, to swoop down and grab the pillow. She ran up to where Glimmer and Bow were standing on Glimmer’s bed. She hit Glimmer over the head in revenge.

“What?! Hey!” Glimmer laughed, hitting Adora in the torso with her own pillow. Bow got Glimmer on the arm and Adora narrowly dodged his next attack.

The trio laughed and jumped around Glimmer’s room, chasing each other and running away from each other.

“You’re so good at this, Adora!” Glimmer said before yelping as she ducked behind her bed as Bow threw a purple pillow at her.

“Just strategic!” Adora said, appearing behind Glimmer and throwing the pillow she was holding directly at her while she wasn’t expecting it. Glimmer laughed, falling to the floor.

“Okay, okay, I give! It’s you two now!” Glimmer climbed up to spectate from her bed. Bow and Adora glared at each other from opposite sides of the room.

“You’re going down, Bow,” Adora said, cracking her knuckles before picking up the nearest two pillows.

“I believe you’re the one going down, Adora,” Bow said. Adora cracked a smile and ducked down behind the bed when Bow mistakenly shot a pillow at her. She rolled underneath it and waited until Bow had come around to where she was before popping up on the other side of the bed and ambushing him with pillows. Bow laughed hard, being knocked to the floor.

“And Adora is our champion!” Glimmer cried. Adora giggled and blushed.

“Catra and I were in a constant pillow fight when we were at each other’s houses. It was never-ending…” Adora trailed off as she realized that she was already using past tense language. Bow and Glimmer exchanged a worrying glance.

“Who wants ice cream?” Glimmer asked, trying to break up the awkward silence.

“Do you have chocolate?” Adora asked.

“Of course.”

The three made their way down to the kitchen and Glimmer pulled out a multitude of ice cream flavors and different syrups. Adora shoveled chocolate into her bowl and then covered it in strawberry syrup. 

“Interesting combo but okay,” Glimmer said, eyeing Adora’s choice of ice cream.

Adora grabbed the rainbow sprinkles from Glimmer and poured more than a serving into her bowl.

“Says the one eating mint-chocolate chip.”

Bow snickered. “The shaaadee,” he gasped.

The Best Friend Squad all broke out into laughs. Adora tossed a handful of sprinkles straight from the shaker into her mouth.

She could get used to this, maybe.


	2. Adora Cares About Her Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ sick character (not graphic at all)
> 
> Mara gets sick at school and Adora insists on taking care of her. Takes place on the same day as Chapter 14.

When Adora got to school on Friday, she noticed Mara sitting at a picnic bench in the shade beneath one of the trees on the grounds. It wasn’t that peculiar, but what was strange was how she was alone and had her head buried in her arms. Adora’s brow furrowed as she walked over towards the older girl. 

Adora quietly slid onto the bench in front of Mara. Mara didn’t move or acknowledge her.

“Hey, Mara, you okay?” Adora reached a hand out for her friend, lightly laying it on her arm. Mara nodded her head while still keeping her forehead on her arm.

“M’ fine” she muttered. Adora narrowed her eyes at her. She didn’t look okay.

“What’s wrong?” Adora asked.

“Tired,” was all Mara said.

Adora chuckled. “Aren’t you always preaching about getting a full night of rest?” It was so unlike Mara to be out-of-it like this. She was feigning amusement, but Adora was actually very worried for the older girl. Mara was always so upbeat and happy, it was strange to see her. Even her braid looked disheveled, like she hadn’t taken it out the day before.

“I tried,” Mara said. She shifted so now she was looking up at Adora, her chin resting on her arm. Her eyes were dull and her face was kind of flushed and clammy.

Adora gently caressed her face. She was warm to the touch.

“Where’s Lilly Hope?” she asked.

“Ditching,” Mara mumbled. Go figure. Lilly was never around when she needed to be.

Adora didn’t buy that Mara was just tired. She looked sick. Adora hummed, trying to come up with a game plan. It was her job as captain to look after her team.

“Are you gonna be able to make it to class?” Adora gently brushed Mara’s bangs out of her face.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” Mara moved again so she was hiding her face down on the table. Adora bit her lip.

“I have to get to the library to help Bow with something. I’ll check on you at lunch, kay?”

“M’kay,” was all the response she got. Adora slid off the picnic table and made her way into the building, sending Mara one last worried look over her shoulder.

… 

After getting her tray from the lunch line, Adora made it her mission to find Mara. She walked around the crowd of lunch tables, slightly jumping when someone at the one she was walking by slammed a book down onto its surface. 

Behind the school, there was a pavilion full of picnic benches they could eat at. It was shaded, unlike the quad, which made it a popular spot to hang out with your friends and eat. That was where Mara usually spent her lunch period and Adora made a beeline towards the pavilion. 

She found Mara at the table farthest away from the entrance, in the corner. She was once again curled in on herself, head resting on her arms. Her lunchbox was sitting on the table next to her, untouched.

“Hey,” Adora said quietly as she sat down across from Mara. Mara moved to look at her after a moment. She smiled a little bit but Adora could tell it was hardly real.

“Hey,” was all she said.

“How are you feeling?” Adora reached a hand out and pressed it to Mara’s forehead. She was warm to the touch, definitely from a fever. Adora bit her lip before reaching for Mara’s lunchbox. She opened it and pulled out the bottle of water and cracked off the cap. “Drink,” she said, pressing the bottle to Mara’s lips.

Mara didn’t fight her, taking the water easily. She pushed it away after a few seconds. 

“You should go home. You’ve got a fever,” Adora told her. Mara shook her head.

“We have practice.” Her words slurred slightly which worried Adora.

“No way, you are not practicing today.” Adora brushed Mara’s bangs out of her eyes for her. 

“Coach will be mad if I don’t.”

“She gets mad at everything. You’re not getting anywhere on that field sick like this.” Adora reached into the lunch box and pulled out a small container of what looked like Kraft mac and cheese. “Kraft?” she asked skeptically.

“I don’t feel good, Adora,” Mara said, putting her head back down in her arms.

“Right, that’s fair.” Adora didn’t want to know what sorcery was involved with keeping this container warm all day, but it still was. She grabbed the fork out of the bag and pushed the food towards Mara. “Eat something. It’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works.”

Adora rolled her eyes and sighed. Softly she said, “Humor me a little.” Mara didn’t say anything else but did lift her head and take a few bites of her food.

Adora sat down across from her and the two ate in silence.

“You know, these nachos aren’t half bad,” Adora said. She normally brought her lunch but today Adam had decided it was funny to turn off her alarm and she had overslept and hadn’t had time to pack one. Unlike Mara, apparently, who was always completely put together even when she was sick.

“That’s because Nena refuses to use the school cheese and makes her own.” Mara smiled slightly.

“That explains a lot, actually.”

The two fell back into comfortable silence after that until Mara had put away her unfinished food. She laid her head into her folded arms once again.

“Go home, Mara. I’m serious, you need actual rest, not just whatever this is,” Adora gestured towards Mara and her position. 

“I’ll go home at the end of the day,” Mara mumbled.

Adora wracked her brain for a solution. 

“Why not go tell Ms. Razz you’re sick?” Adora reached across the table and stroked Mara’s hair lightly.

“I don’t want her to worry,” Mara said. Adora sighed. “Just accept it. I’m not leaving.”

Adora stood up and came around the side of the table. She stood behind Mara and began to undo her hair. She smoothed out the flyaways and tangles, leaving it up in the ponytail it was in. She ran her fingers through her long hair for a moment.

Adora carefully rebraided Mara’s hair. She wasn’t as good at as Mara or even Lilly Hope was, but it would suffice. When she was done, her hair at least looked better than it had to start.

“There. That’s better.” Adora gently rubbed Mara’s shoulder. “Promise me you’ll leave when school’s over and not come to practice?” Adora asked, finally giving in.

“Yeah, okay,” Mara said.

“Good. I’m gonna go find Bow and Glimmer. If you start to feel worse, please go talk to Ms. Razz about it.”

“Mhm,” Mara hummed in agreement. Adora knew she wouldn’t but it made her feel better to just say it.

Adora gathered her things and left the pavilion. She bit her lip as she walked back into the main building. She resolved to go check on Mara after practice. She didn’t live far away after all.

Mara was like a big sister to her, it was hard not to worry when something was wrong with her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda just wanted to write a little sickfic for this chapter. Nothing big or dramatic, just exploring Adora and Mara’s characters tad. Sickfics are my guilty pleasure after all.


	3. Romantic Tension At Thanksgiving Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and Catra both end up with invitations to Mara’s Thanksgiving dinner. Typical enemies-to-lovers tension ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2/16/2021: Went back and added a few lines because my obsession with EoA is too much.

“Hey, Catra!” 

Catra stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being called by an unfamiliar voice. She was on her way to the staff parking lot to go home when she heard footsteps coming running up behind her. She turned around and was met with Mara standing about a foot and a half away from her.

“Are you gonna be busy on Thanksgiving?” Mara asked. Catra thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.

“No, why?” Mara and Catra had known each other for years. As long as Adora had known Mara, Catra had known her.

“I wanted to invite you to have Thanksgiving dinner with me and my friends.” Mara held out an envelope with a smile. It was red with a brown wax seal on it. Catra’s name was written on it in gold Sharpie.

“Oh, wow. Okay, sure. I guess I’ll come.” Mara’s usual smile widened.

“Great! The information’s all on the invite.” Mara’s phone buzzed and she looked down at it. “Dammit, I gotta go. See you later, Catra!” And Mara was gone as soon as she had appeared.

Catra stood in the parking lot, envelope clutched to her chest.

Interesting. Mara considered her a friend.

…

November 28th led to Catra standing on Mara’s front porch. It was a nice house, she had to admit. Smaller than Adora’s just down the street, but it only needed to accommodate Mara and her grandmother, Ms. Razz, so Catra supposed it was the perfect size. She raised her fist and knocked three times on the door.

After a few minutes, it opened and she was met with a blonde girl on the other side. She had blue and purple streaks in her hair and was wearing a dark blue hoodie.

“Oh, hey Catra. Come on in.”

“Hey, Lilly Hope,” Catra greeted. She knew Mara’s best friend well. She was always wherever Mara was. Catra was convinced they were definitely more than just friends, but Adora always told her not to push anything on them. It was pretty obvious though. 

Lilly smiled at her and led her into the family room. Catra stiffened as she spotted a blonde-haired girl sitting on the couch. She mentally kicked herself. Of course, Adora would be here!

Catra quietly took a seat as far away from Adora as she could, which meant sitting on the floor at the coffee table in the middle of the room. The plush carpet was really different from the old gross stuff that covered Catra’s own living room, she noted.

Lilly had just crashed down onto the couch beside Adora when Mara called for her.

“Hey, Hope?! Can you come here for a second?!” The brunette called from the kitchen. Lilly groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, coming!”

Once Lilly had left Adora looked over and realized Catra was in the room. Her eyes widened. There were a few other people in the room, including Lonnie and a black-haired girl was sitting in the corner and tapping away on her phone. Catra thought her name was Serenia. She was a junior just like Mara, Catra thought. There was also another girl sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Adora. She looked a lot like Mara and Catra guessed that they were related.

Adora wouldn’t cause a scene here, would she?

“Hey, Adora,” Catra purred, resting her head in her hand with her elbow propped up on the coffee table. Adora coughed and blushed red. Catra smirked. It was fun to mess with Adora.

“Oh, hey Catra.” Adora waved awkwardly. Lonnie laughed to herself, hiding her face behind her phone. Catra shot her a small glare.

“I heard Sparkles and Arrow Boy finally hooked up,” Catra said, trying to make decent conversation. 

“Um, yeah, I don’t know if hooked up is the right term, but they’re definitely a thing now, I think…” Adora looked out the window. She was rubbing her palm with her thumb like she always did when she was nervous. A small part of Catra wanted to comfort her, but she knew she wasn’t in a place to do that anymore.

Catra distracted herself with the Charlie Brown cartoons playing on the TV she was facing. They were dorky and childish, but a certain sense of nostalgia that came from them seemed to calm Catra’s nerves. Before she knew it, Mara came in and led them to the dining room, where dinner had been served.

Everyone took their seats. Ms. Razz was at the head of the table. Mara sat to her left and Adora sat to her right. Lonnie was next to Adora, Lilly Hope sat next to Mara and Catra was on Lonnie’s other side. She was sitting across from the Serenia girl, who had finally put her phone away. The brown-haired girl, who Catra had learned was named Elena and Mara's cousin sat next to Serenia.

They then prayed, which wasn’t something Catra normally did. She had never been religious in her life, but she knew the motions. 

The food was delicious. It always was. Mara was a super impressive cook and possibly even better than Ms. Razz. Dinner with Mara was always something to write home about.

Catra’s eyes kept drifting to Adora. She was in a conversation with Mara, something about a soccer game Catra didn’t watch. She shook her head, focusing on her food. She looked up and found Serenia seemingly studying her. She glared slightly at the black-haired girl, who quickly averted her eyes from Catra.

“So, Catra, how are your classes?” Adora suddenly asked her.

“Oh, they're good,” Catra responded quickly.

“Really, because I saw you got an F on your last math test,” Adora said, taunting. Catra tensed.

“No, I didn’t. You must be confusing my paper with yours,” Catra snarked. 

Adora laughed. “If that’s what helps you sleep at night.” Catra’s eyes widened and her fist clenched. “Nobody actually likes you, you know,” she continued just to add fuel to the fire.

Catra stood up, hand flying up and knocking over the nearby boat of gravy in the process. It spilled out over the table and stained the white cloth. “Yeah, you would know!”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me about it?!” Adora smirked.

“Catra? Earth to Catra?”

Catra gasped quietly, eyes blinking. “Huh?” she asked, looking up to Mara who was calling her name.

“I asked you if you could pass me the gravy.” Catra looked to where Mara was pointing at the gravy boat, still standing upright on the table. 

“Oh, yeah.” Catra carefully picked it up and passed it to Mara.

“Thanks.”

“Are you okay? Your face looks weird,” Lilly commented.

“Yeah, fine, totally fine.” Catra went back to her food. She caught Lilly Hope and Mara exchange a look out of the corner of her eye.

It was just her imagination. Her cruel, fucked up imagination messing with her. Catra looked over at Adora who was talking animatedly to Lonnie.

She could not wait for this dinner to be over.


	4. High School Party: Christmas Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Princess Alliance and co have a very chaotic Christmas party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Underage drinking  
> I know this is 2019 Christmas and AC didn’t come out until 2020 but bear with me it’s late.

“Who’d you get for the secret Santa?”

Glimmer draped herself over her bed, head hanging off the edge upside down. Adora looked up at her.

“Isn’t the whole point of the secret Santa to not tell anyone who you got?”

Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“As long as it’s not me does it really matter?”

“I think it does.”

“Well, I got Mermista. I have no idea what to get her! She doesn’t like anything!”

Adora shook her head. “Mermista likes things, you just don’t pay enough attention to her to know what they are.”

“What are they?” Glimmer asked.

“Figure that out yourself. I’m not gonna tell you.” Adora went back to her iPad.

“Come on Adora!” Glimmer begged.

“I’m not giving you a get-out-of-jail-free card for being a bad friend.”

Glimmer huffed.

“Fine.”

…

“So are you hosting the party?” Perfuma asked Adora. The two girls were at the mall, shopping for their secret Santa presents.

“Yep! My parents are going out of town to see my grandparents, so we have the whole house.”

Perfuma set down the book she was holding. “And why aren’t you going?”

“They won’t let me into their house because they’re homophobic.”

Perfuma frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, their loss. I’d rather hang out with you guys than pretend to be something I’m not around people who don’t even know my middle name.” Adora waved her hand as if dismissing the topic. Perfuma nodded, going back to browsing the shelf of books. “Okay, don’t tell her I told you this, but Glimmer got Mermista.”

“Really?”

Adora nodded. “Uh-huh. She knows absolutely nothing about what Mista likes though.”

Perfuma shook her head. “That’s a shame. I wanted Mermista. I wonder if she would trade me.”

“Who’d you get?” Adora asked, picking up a pair of fuzzy socks from the clearance rack.

“Bow.”

“Oh, I’m sure she would.”

Perfuma hummed. Adora laughed picking up a fake cactus. 

“How tacky is this?” Perfuma looked up and giggled.

“Those fake flowers are atrocious. It’s like they didn’t even try.” Perfuma walked over and took the cactus from Adora. “Why do I almost want to buy it?”

Adora laughed. “I’m sure he would love to go home with you.”

Perfuma smiled.

“Nah,” she said, putting it back on the shelf. Adora turned away to walk over to the cookware section, just barely catching Perfuma setting the cactus into her basket out of the corner of her eye.

…

They were holding their Christmas party three days before Christmas. Everyone gathered at Adora’s place around three in the afternoon on the 22nd.

“Hey, guys!” Adora greeted as Sea Hawk and Mermista arrived.

“Hey,” Mermista said, smiling tightly.

“Hey, Adora!” Sea Hawk said.

“Something wrong?” Adora asked Mermista.

“No, he’s just a dumbass,” Mermista said as they walked inside. Adora rolled her eyes.

“Well, I have alcohol if you need it.” Adora winked at Mermista. Mermista shook her head. She then looked over at Sea Hawk, who was in the living room already.

“If you do it really fast it won’t hurt!” the girls heard him say. Adora leaned over to see into the family room. Sea Hawk appeared to be daring Bow to stick his hand into the fireplace.

“Hey, let’s not play with fire!” Mermista yelled.

“Sorry, Mermista!” Sea Hawk responded. Bow took a step away from the fire.

Mermista looked at Adora.

“Where’s that alcohol you mentioned?”

Adora laughed and led her into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Glimmer, Perfuma, and Frosta were sitting on the couch watching the boys be total idiots. Before they had left, Adora’s parents had helped her put up a Christmas tree and the lights twinkled and shined in the corner of the room.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Perfuma said to Sea Hawk, who was poking at the fireplace with the poker. He seemed fascinated by it.

“Hey, pyromaniac, your girlfriend said to get away from the fire!” Frosta shouted.

They could hear Mermista groan from the kitchen, clearly listening in on the conversation.

Glimmer laughed as Sea Hawk slunk over to the love seat. Bow took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Glimmer. Mermista and Adora soon come into the living room. Mermista was holding a red solo cup and Adora had a box of chocolate pretzels in her hand. Mermista walked over and took a seat next to Sea Hawk, leaning into his side.

“Need alcohol to deal with me?” he asked playfully.

“There’s less than a shot in this. I just want a buzz,” Mermista said, almost whispering as she took a drink.

“I don’t think that’s going to do anything to you,” Glimmer said from across the room.

“Oh, hush shortie.”

Everyone else but Glimmer laughed.

“Do we wanna exchange presents then party, or vice versa?” Adora asked.

“We’re all already here, aren’t we? Let’s go ahead and do presents,” Bow said. Adora nodded.

“I can’t believe you made us drop off our presents yesterday,” Mermista commented.

“I take secret Santa very seriously, okay?” Adora picked up a wrapped box and handed it to Perfuma.

Adora passed out all the other gifts to the members of the groups. They sat around the room, all opening them at the same time.

Mermista began to giggle as she saw what was in her package.

“What?” Sea Hawk asked, excited as he looked over at her present. 

“This is fucking adorable,” Mermista said as she pulled the box free of its wrapping finally. It was one of those washing machines made for cleaning beauty blenders.

“Woah!” Frosta squealed as she unwrapped her gift. “EEE!” Everyone looked up to watch her hold up a copy of Animal Crossing for her Switch. She didn’t pay any attention to the tub of Christmas popcorn also in the package, she was eagerly reading the back of the case.

“Oh, cool!” Perfuma said, pulling her gift out of its perfect wrapping. A shiny set of 50 oil paints laid in her lap.

Adora gasped as she tore into her package. Her eyes started to tear up and everyone turned to look at her as she pulled a plush of a white horse with a rainbow mane, wings, and a horn out. She stared at it for a moment before hugging it close to her chest. Swift Wind, who was sitting in front of her, looked offended.

“Awww.” Glimmer smiled as she opened the phone case and Amazon gift card for $50.

“Sweet!” Bow carefully unwrapped a new set of wheels for his rollerskates.

Sea Hawk, who had been busy watching everyone else finally got into his package.

“Woah,” Mermista mumbled as she saw what was inside.

“Wait, this is so cool!” Sea Hawk pulled out a tiny miniature model of himself. He stared at it with heart eyes. Mermista pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of him before he wrapped it back up for safety.

Everyone put their presents into Adora’s room, except for Adora who was holding her horse plushie on her shoulder.

“Party?” Glimmer asked.

“Party!” Adora affirmed.

…

2 hours later and music was blasting throughout the house. Everyone was at least a little bit drunk as they went to town on Christmas cookies, themed sweets, and some punch Adora had made. She said it was a secret family recipe but had 100% added alcohol to it.

Mermista came back into the kitchen to spot Glimmer and Sea Hawk off to the side by the cheese dip and chips sitting on the dining table. She narrowed her eyes at them, watching as Glimmer dragged her finger along Sea Hawk’s chest. 

“Oh fuck, this isn’t going to go well,” Adora giggled, appearing next to her.

Mermista clenched her fists. She wasn’t super buzzed but had a feeling the alcohol was still what was making her jealous. She didn’t get jealous. Other girls could talk to him all they wanted, he was still hers. Logically, she knew that, but her drunk teenage girl brain was screaming at her to walk over and pull them apart.

Adora began to laugh again behind her and Mermista was pulled out of her thoughts. She looked up and found Glimmer making out with Sea Hawk! Her breath caught in her throat.

“Okay, that’s happening. Yay!” Adora clapped.

“NO! No yay!!” Mermista pulled Adora’s hands apart. Her yelling apparently was what made Glimmer finally get off her boyfriend. Mermista stormed up to her. The next thing she knew the drink she had been holding was all over Glimmer. Glimmer gasped as the cold punch soaked into her clothing.

“Bitch!” she slurred.

“You’re the one trying to steal my boyfriend, whore!”

Everyone gasped, coming to stand in the threshold between the kitchen and living room. Mermista was so much taller than Glimmer, especially in her heels, it was kind of funny to watch.

Glimmer shoved Mermista but Sea Hawk caught her as she stumbled. He dragged Mermista out of the room before she could cause actual damage.

He took her into the upstairs bathroom. The door was barely shut before she began to sob.

“Mista, I swear I didn’t want that, okay? It was all her. I’m only ever gonna love you, you know that.” Sea Hawk pulled Mermista into his arms and stroked her hair as she cried into his chest. 

“I’m gonna kill her,” Mermista whispered.

Sea Hawk laughed.

“We’ll see how you feel in the morning, okay?”

Sea Hawk swayed gently to the music playing downstairs. Mermista wrapped her arms around his waist and sniffled as she calmed down.

“Can we ditch?” she asked, looking at her face in the mirror. Mascara was smeared down her face along with lipstick, glitter, and her concealer was starting to smudge.

“Of course.”

…

“Did Sea Hawk and Mermista leave?” Perfuma asked as they all laid in the living room, watching Charlie Brown holiday specials.

“Yep,” Adora said, popping the p. “You seriously fucked up, Glimmer,” Adora drunkenly giggled.

Glimmer crossed her arms over her chest.

“I thought he was Bow,” she mumbled.

Everyone laughed. Adora stole a handful of popcorn from Frosta’s tub and tossed it into her mouth, only getting three pieces in while the rest fell to the floor.

“We’re all gonna be so hungover tomorrow,” Perfuma said.

“That’s future us’s problem!” Adora cheered.

And it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you figure out who had who for the Secret Santa? Answers in the next chapter!


	5. The Unholy Trinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora asks Catra out on a date. Catra turns to her two most chaotic friends for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after Teenage Wasteland’s epilogue. If you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read this any time before 3/05/2021. (That’s the day the epilogue will be posted.)
> 
> Not me putting my fashionista!mermista headcanons in this. This is literally so self-indulgent and I’m not sorry.

The strangest thing that happened upon Catra and Adora reuniting and becoming girlfriends, surprisingly, was the friendship Catra formed with Mermista.

The two were both polar opposites and always on the same wavelength. The first time they met, they just seemed to click. Mermista’s blunt personality and Catra’s top-tier sarcasm made any third party slightly uncomfortable if they were to hang around them.

Well, except for one person.

Catra and Double Trouble had not been on good terms for a decent amount of time after she moved in with the Grayskull’s. It had actually been Glimmer who grabbed them both and practically forced them to make up. 

What was quite possibly stranger than Catra and Mermista’s friendship was that Double Trouble and Mermista were already friends.

“You!”

“Oh my god, not this bitch! Really, Catra?!”

Double Trouble and Mermista stared each other down, glaring daggers at one another. This had not been what Catra expected when she tried to introduce them to each other.

“How the hell do you know each other?!” Catra exclaimed.

“She’s the annoying bitch that Sea Hawk always dragged along when we hung out,” Double Trouble said, turned away from mermista and crossing their arms over their chest.

“You’re the asshole that always pulled my hair and stepped on my shoes! I still have scuffs on my favorite Doc Martins because of you!” 

“You ran around with Sea Hawk?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow at Double Trouble.

“He has access to good pot, he also has a super annoying girlfriend.” Catra laughed at that while Mermista blushed. “Oh don’t even try to deny it blueberry.” Mermista scoffed.

“That’s the best insult you’ve got?!”

“Do you want me to do worse?!”

So, Double Trouble and Mermista hadn’t hit it off right away the same way Mermista and Catra had. No big deal, Catra decided. Not everyone clicked. She couldn’t stand Frosta to save her life, and that was fine.

Mermista and Double Trouble didn’t stay enemies for long. How exactly they had become friends, Catra couldn’t be sure. It happened sometime in June while Catra was on a road trip with the rest of the Best Friend Squad. When Catra returned home, she found the two lounging in her bedroom, playing on her brand new switch she had barely even had a chance to mess around with.

“What the hell?!” she asked, dropping her bags to the floor.

“Oh, hey Catra. Marlena let us in to wait for you. One second,” Mermista greeted her, never taking her eyes off the game where she was apparently kicking Double Trouble’s ass in MarioKart.

Catra was so exhausted she didn’t give a shit, instead carefully stepping around her fallen bags and making her way to her bed before she crashed into it. After a long month on the road, there was no better feeling than this.

So what if Mermista and Double Trouble were cursing each other out ten feet away? It was nice to be home.

Mermista, Catra, and Double Trouble hung out all summer. They quickly became best friends and Catra was starting to have a hard time balancing all her friend groups. Between the Best Friend Squad, Super Pal Trio, and what Mermista and Double Trouble had dubbed their friend group as ‘The Unholy Trinty’, Catra struggled to keep up. She had never had so many friends before. It was a constant circle of who should she go to for advice? Who should she hang out with on a Friday night? Who should she give her extra ticket to the movies to? Well, that one was easy, of course, it goes to Adora.

But there was only one person who could help her with this problem. 

_ From: Me _

_ I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! _

Catra paced her room as she waited for Mermista to reply.

_ From: Mista <3 _

_ What’s wrong?! _

Catra began to furiously type, her all caps on.

_ From: Me _

_ ADORA JUST ASKED ME OUT FOR ICE CREAM AND I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!!!!  _ 😭😭😭😭😭😭

_ From: Mista <3 _

_ Really? That’s the problem? Be over at my place in twenty. _

Catra sighed, relieved. Fashion emergencies were Mermista’s specialty. Despite having been dating since May, Catra and Adora have only been on two dates, and she had asked Adora out for both of them. This was the first time Adora had invited her somewhere, she needed to impress.

Catra slid on a simple pair of vans and left her room, racing downstairs.

“Marlena?” she asked, poking her head into her surrogate mother’s office.

“Yes, Catra?” she asked, looking up from her laptop.

“Can you take me to a friend’s house?”

“What friend?”

“Mermista.”

“Doesn’t she live with her boyfriend?”

Catra blushed. “Uh, yeah, but Adora and I are going out and she’s just going to help me with an outfit.” Adora in question was at Glimmer’s currently and they were meant to meet up downtown in an hour.

“Sure, honey, Let me just put some shoes on.” Catra beamed.

Catra arrived at Sea Hawk and Mermista’s apartment exactly nineteen minutes after they had texted. She took the stairs two at a time, fumbling with the key Mermista had given her repeatedly until the door swung open on its own.

“Oh hey Kitten. Surprised you’re actually on time,” Double Trouble said.

“Shut up, this is important. What are you even doing here?” Catra asked as they walked to Mermista’s glorified closet. It was actually the apartment’s second bedroom but it was essentially just Mermista’s closet with a sewing desk in it.

“Just hanging out. Sea Hawk had to run to the store but he’ll be back soon.”

“Hey!” Catra called as she pushed open the door to the spare bedroom.

“Hey!” Mermista said brightly, turning around from the mannequin she was working on.

“Did you throw something together?”

“Yep! Take a look.” Mermista stepped away from the mannequin to display what she had done.

It was outfitted with a white tank top, a duo-chrome skirt that shifted between orange and red as the light hit it, and a black cropped leather jacket. A pair of black Mary Janes and knee-high white socks with a red stripe at the top hem sat on the floor below the mannequin.

“I love it!” Catra exclaimed.

“Thanks, I actually made that skirt for you a while back but never had an occasion to give it to you for, so you can have it now.

Mermista carefully removed the articles of clothing from the display and handed them to Catra.

“Bathroom’s across the hall directly!” Mermista called as Catra ran out of the room.

“I know!”

Catra emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed to impress.

“Ooh, you look good,” Double Trouble said from their lounging spot on Mermista’s desk as she sauntered into the room. Mermista smiled and clapped.

“That looks so good on you. Now! Hair and makeup! We don’t have much time!” Mermista grabbed Catra’s wrist and dragged her to the master bedroom and into the bathroom.

“Why do you have concealer in my color?” Catra asked as Mermista began to do her makeup.

“I made Double Trouble go and grab it for me when you said you were coming over. That’s why they’re here, despite what they told you.” Mermista winked at Catra and Catra giggled. “It’s not that off, surprisingly.” Mermista hummed as she inspected Catra’s face.

“Don’t cover my freckles,” Catra instructed as Mermista picked up a contour palette.

“Not planning on it.”

Catra was always surprised at how quickly Mermista could do makeup. It took her barely ten minutes to make Catra’s face look better than it had ever. She then began to do her hair. She pulled it back away from her face in a braid that went from above her ear to the center of the back of her head. Catra noticed her braid a red ribbon into her hair but didn’t comment, just watched her work. She repeated the braid on the other side of her head, carefully weaving in a matching red ribbon.

She tied the ribbons together into a bow after securing the braids together with a small elastic band. 

“Woah,” Catra marveled as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“Like it?” Mermista asked, leaning down to rest her head on Catra’s left shoulder. Catra nodded.

“It’s pretty. Really pretty.”

“Nah, that’s just your face,” Mermista smiled and Catra blushed.

The two made their way back to the sewing room.

“Oh, wow.” Double trouble watched as Catra spun around to show off her outfit to them.

“Wait, one more thing!” Mermista grabbed something off a nearby table. It was a small backpack made of black leather that matched Catra’s jacket.

“Put your wallet and phone in here.” Mermista held out the bag to Catra and the brunette took it gratefully. 

After that, Double Trouble and Catra said goodbye to Mermista before make their way to their car.

“Thank you for driving me,” Catra said as she climbed into the car.

“I just wanna see what Adora’s wearing,” Double Trouble said nonchalantly. Catra rolled her eyes with a smile.

It took only a short five minutes to get to downtown Bright Moon from Salineas. Soon they were rolling up to the local ice cream shop. Sure enough, Adora was waiting outside the door, looking nervous.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra said, walking up to her after Double Trouble let her out of the car.

“Oh, hey Catra!” Adora smiled brightly. She was wearing her favorite letterman jacket with a pair of light blue skinny jeans and red converse. She wore her usual ponytail but had swapped her black hair tie for a blue one that matched her eyes.

“You look, wow,” was all Adora could say. Catra laughed.

“Come on, I was promised ice cream.” Catra threaded her fingers in between Adora’s and the two walked into the ice cream shop, telling each other excitedly about their days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Answers to the Secret Santa from the last chapter:  
> Mermista had Perfuma  
> Perfuma had Mermista  
> Bow had Sea Hawk  
> Sea Hawk had Adora  
> Adora had Frosta  
> Frosta had Glimmer  
> Glimmer had Bow


End file.
